Henkel, a supplier of adhesives, sealants and functional coatings announced Dec. 13 the expansion of its operations in Salisbury, North Carolina.

The expansion of Henkel’s existing site includes a new 10,000 square foot, state-of-the-art production area for UV-curable acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) and broadens the company’s capabilities to provide more sustainable and innovative PSA solutions to the tape, label, medical, and graphics films markets to meet increasing demand, Henkel said.

“The new production area at the Salisbury facility is a major investment for Henkel and represents the first large-scale UV hotmelt production plant outside of Europe, creating a tremendous resource for our customers in North America,” said Bruno Motta, Global Project Manager, UV Hot Melt Pressure Sensitive Adhesives at Henkel. “Being closer to our customers brings supply chain efficiencies and offers additional collaboration opportunities to develop customized, innovative solutions for their high performance and high value applications.”

The Salisbury plant became part of Henkel in 2008 following the company’s acquisition of the National Starch adhesives business. The site has more than 217,000 sq. ft. of production space, including the new UV acrylics operation, and employs 230 employees with 20 jobs expected to be added in 2023, the company said.

“The investment in Henkel’s Salisbury operation has created a one-of-a-kind facility dedicated to efficiently meeting the growing demand of our customers,” said Gary Rzonca, Senior Vice President, Packaging and Consumer Goods, Henkel North America. “Henkel’s UV-curable acrylic PSA technology expands our solvent-free hot melt production and bridges a market gap with an innovative alternative to solution acrylic adhesives, helping our customers achieve their sustainability objectives and creating new market opportunities with a customized approach. We are grateful for the support of our valued partners and our dedicated employees who have made this new facility a reality.”